Housing publics

Situated resistance to public housing redevelopment in New York City under racial capitalism

Bibliographic Data

ID7153194
AuthorsValerie E Stahl (0000-0002-2002-3723, San Diego State University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume43
Issue2
Pages248-265
Publication date2025-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning C Politics and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2399-6544 • E-ISSN: 2399-6552
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/23996544231184057
OpenAlexW4382048858
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited50

In this paper, I describe resistance to a public housing redevelopment process in New York City. I describe the story within a theoretical approach of pragmatism, as I focus on both means and ends in planning while considering the experience and contestations of the various “publics” involved in deliberations surrounding a pilot site for mixed-income infill development. While pragmatism is helpful in reflecting on planning processes, I also simultaneously acknowledge the context of how racial capitalism has shaped and continues to impact the geography of the city, including public housing communities. As such, I propose that residents engaged in “situated resistance” as plans to radically transform the largest housing authority in the United States unfolded around them. I find that while the housing authority and residents had the same objective of preserving existing public housing, their desired paths to achieving that goal dramatically differed. I conclude by proposing that robust democratic engagement requires reparative approaches rooted in racial and economic justice that substantively and procedurally center African American communities such as those living in public housing. By introducing pragmatism alongside racial capitalism through the case of public housing redevelopment, I ultimately highlight the importance of fusing theories of democratic and structural change in urban redevelopment

Archaeology · Capitalism · Democracy · Geography · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Pragmatism · Public housing · Redevelopment · Situated · Sociology · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Public Administration · Urban Planning and Governance · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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